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Friday, May 22, 2009

Aldeias do Xisto, Lousã

During our Easter break last month we spent a few days in this part of Portugal. We'd never been here, so it was a really nice surprise.Our main purpose was to visit a few of the Aldeias do Xisto, beautiful restored villages with traditional houses made of schist. Apparently there are 24 of them in this region, but we only managed to visit 4: Talasnal, Casal Novo, Chiqueiro and Gondramaz. My favourite was Talasnal (wilder and more rustic) but Gondramaz was definitely the most beautifully restored one.

Talasnal

Chiqueiro

Gondramaz

We stayed in Lousã, at this place, which was nice but a bit overrated.

Their restaurant is quite good, although not as good as this one here, where the food was outstanding to say the least (and huge servings too). The restaurant is outside of the city, up near the castle and the ermida (and the fluvial beach) and it's worth making a reservation ahead. We didn't, so had to wait around for an hour or so, which gaves us the opportunity to explore the surrounding area.

Restaurant "O Burgo"

Ermida da Srª da Piedade

And if you feel like having a nice cup of tea and yummy cake, a lovely place is the Casa de Chá "Solar do Adro", located right next to the church downtown. I also suggest the Pastelaria S. Silvestre for purchasing some traditional pastries to take home (can't remember the name now but we got some amazing ones made of chestnuts and honey)